When I was 3 years old I was to be the flower girl at my
uncle's wedding. I remember being really enthusiastic about the fact I was
getting a "princessy" dress and my hair done. My job was to walk to
the altar before the bride and groom with my 5-year-old cousin, wait nicely
during the ceremony and then toss petals in the wake of the bride and groom as
they walked back down the aisle.

The walking to the altar went nicely, but the sermon was a bit
too long for my cousin, who started to scratch some sticker or something off the
bottoms of my uncle's shoes as the bride and groom kneeled at the altar. Then,
as the ceremony ended and the bride and groom began to walk back, I was tossing
the petals quite professionally until I realized about halfway down the aisle
that the pretty pink petals would be left on the church floor. I then proceeded
to begin picking the petals up from the floor instead and collect them back into
my basket!

Fortunately no-one got angry at me for trying to save the
petals, but I am still reminded about this incident and it's been 17 years!

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When my sister was married, she insisted that all three of my
daughters would be in her wedding. They were 5, 3 and 18 months at the
time. We knew there'd be mishaps and my sister was more than prepared to
deal with whatever happened. The wedding itself had a couple minor upsets
- normal behavior for such small children.

At the reception, the cake table was surrounded by an
assortment of cookies. People began to comment to me on how sweet my
middle daughter was to hand out cookies to guests. I watched with pride
while she visited different tables and presented her gifts. Towards the
end of the night, however, someone informed us that they had also been watching
her. Apparently she was getting a cut of the action as well by licking
each cookie before she approached her beneficiary!!

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The wedding took place in November 1988.
I was 8 years old at the time. My father was in the wedding party.
My parents knew the couple for a long time and the groom was like a big brother
to me and my sister. My sister, mother and I were sitting in the pew of
the church when this incident took place.

The bride (Mary) decided to have the groom’s 3 year old niece (Becky) as her
flower girl. Becky was supposed to walk down the aisle right before the
bride. Unfortunately, Becky decided at the last minute that she did not
want to walk down the aisle by her self. Instead of her mother (Laura -
who was in the wedding party) taking her hand, poor Mary was forced to walk down
the aisle holding Becky’s hand. And instead of walking normally, Becky
glued herself to Mary’s side and walked attached to Mary’s leg and sort of
behind her at the same time. Becky was also crying. Since Mary’s
other hand held her bouquet, Mary’s father could not hold his own daughter’s
hand. It was a very awkward walk down the aisle. Mary is a very
sweet woman and managed to smile and keep quiet about the whole thing.

My advice to parents of flower girls and ring bearers: any child under the
age of 4 is too young! They throw tantrums and their moods change very
quickly. They may look sweet and cute in their wedding finery, but a
sobbing child throwing a tantrum is not the way a bride and groom want to
remember their wedding. Parents are responsible for their children
wherever they are – including weddings.

Though it was a small part of the wedding and it happened 18 years ago, I
managed to remember it, though I was a child at the time.

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When
my husband and I got married, we had 3 small children as our flower girls and
ring bearer. They were all 3 years old. And we knew that anything
could happen, we weren’t worried about whether they made it down the aisle, we
just wanted them to be a part of our day. Both of the two flower girls
were my cousins and the ring bearer, Austin is the son of my MOH.

The
kids all got down the aisle great. The problem started after the ceremony
began. After the flower girls made their way to the alter, they went over
to the pulpit and sat on the stairs, they were able to whisper to each other and
watch everyone sitting in the pews.
Austin
, somehow got stuck standing next to our pastor, holding his hand.

As
the pastor was in the middle of praying for us, I hear
Austin
whisper to his mother (the MOH) that he had to go potty. Now of course he
went literally seconds before we walked down the isle, but what are you going to
do, he’s 3. He keeps repeating himself in whispers, my husband and
I are trying not to laugh out loud. So now the MOH is trying to get her
husband's attention (he’s sitting in the pews). And then
Austin
yells…I HAVE TO GO POTTY!!! And everyone breaks out into
laughter. So his father gets him and takes him in back to go potty.

But
it gets better, he didn’t have to go…he didn’t want to stand with the
pastor anymore, he wanted to go play with the flower girls. But how can
you be mad at that cute little face, who every time he heard the church bells
chime after the wedding (his house is around the corner from the church) would
say that’s the church where he married Aunt Meagan. He’s 8 now,
and we love to tease him about that day.